Hillary Clinton's
coronation as the Democratic presidential candidate was set to be overshadowed
by walkouts and sit-ins amid fresh allegations of dirty tricks against her
left-wing rival Bernie Sanders.
On the eve of the
party's convention in Philadelphia 20,000 emails were made public by Wikileaks
showing supposedly neutral senior party officials tried to undermine Mr
Sanders's insurgent left-wing campaign by publicly portraying him as an
atheist.
Convention delegates
supporting Mr Sanders, with whom Mrs Clinton fought an acrimonous primary
battle, threatened protests, and his supporters planned marches outside the
hall including delivering a coffin signifying the party was "dead" to
them.
Norman Solomon, a
Sanders delegate to the convention from California, told the Washington Post:
"The outrage is not just smouldering, it is burning. There has been an
insurgency in the party far beyond anybody'’s expectations."
Debbie Wasserman
Schultz, chairwoman of the Democratic Party, was found to have sent an email
during the primary election saying Mr Sanders "would not be
president."
She immediately
resigned from her position at the head of the party and her role chairing the
convention which begins on Monday.
Party officials said
she had been "quarantined to keep the peace".
The party leadership must always remain impartial in the presidential
nominating process, something which did not occur in the 2016 race.
— Bernie Sanders
(@BernieSanders) 24 July 2016
A furious Mr
Sanders said: "I am not an atheist. I'm not shocked but I am disappointed
by this, I think it's outrgaeous."
He said there was
"no question" the party establishment had undermined his campaign and
clandestinely supported Mrs Clinton for the nomination.
Mrs Clinton's
campaign blamed "Russian state actors" for hacking party emails in an
effort to embarrass her at the start of the convention.
Mr Sanders also
criticised Mrs Clinton's choice
of Tim Kaine, the Virginia senator, as her vice-presidential running mate.
He said: "Tim
Kaine's political views are not my political views. He's more
consevartive."
According to one
poll 40 per cent of Mr Sanders' supporters intended not to vote for Mrs Clinton
in the November 8 general election.
Donald Trump, the
Republican nominee tried to woo them saying the Democratic contest had been
"rigged".
In a message to his
supporters Mr Sanders said: "My first message is
Donald Trump cannot be president.
"My second
message is we continue the political revolution and fight for a government that
represents all of us."
He was due to hold a
private meeting with the 1,900 party delegates supporting him hours before the
convention began. Mr Sanders was due to speak to the convention floor on Monday
night.
As the party's rules
committee met at the weekend his supporters tried to overturn the
"superdelegates" system which favoured Mrs Clinton. A group of
Sanders supporters chanted "“Shame!" and "“You'’re killing the
party."
While major protests
did not materialise at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland last
week, Mr Sanders' supporters vowed they would turn out in force in the
Philadelphia, City of Brotherly Love.
They called Mrs Clinton "disingenuous" and
"corrupt" and echoed Brexit as they called for a a
"DemExit".
Anti -Clinton protest
gproups attending the convention were set to include Bernie or Bust, Men for
Bernie, and Occupy DNC.
Billy Taylor,
31,organiser of an anti-Clinton march, said: "Bernie was robbed. We're not
going to vote for the demon named Hillary because they're threatening us with
the devil named Trump,"
Protests were also
set to include a vigil for the "death of democarcy" and a public play
showing "the trial of Hillary Clinton".
Ed Higgins, another
march organiser, said: "Bernie is the rightful nominee. They are still
trying to rig it in favour of the Queen and we're not about to coronate her.
There will be tons of disruption. The fight is not over.
0 Comments